Once you are clear of the industrial sprawl of Tyne and Wear, Northumberland’s 39-mile coast offers such a succession of fine beaches, cliffs, headlands and coves that it has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It can’t be beaten for wildlife, either; it’s also a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Man has also left his mark on the landscape. Prehistoric remains jostle for the attention with early Christian buildings, mighty medieval fortifications with 20th-century coastal defences, pretty villages with bustling market towns.

1 Warkworth
Just north of Amble lies the pretty town and impressive castle of Warkworth, overlooking the Coquet river. Founded in the 12th century, it became the seat of the powerful Earls of Northumberland, the Percy family. It sits on a huge grassy mound at the top of the village’s main street.
After a visit to the castle, there’s much to explore. An easy half-mile stroll beside the river brings you to the little ferry that takes visitors across to Warkworth Hermitage, hacked out of the cliff above the river in the 14th century. And if you want to get better acquainted with the river, you can hire a rowing boat.

2 Alnwick
Alnwick is a market town with prosperous hotels, cobbled streets, and a massive arch that separates Bondgate Within from Bondgate Without.
Its splendid castle, home of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, was used as the setting for the Harry Potter films. The Alnwick Garden, created by the Duchess herself, is worth a visit for its magnificent Grand Cascade and ongoing projects.
Then there’s Barter Books, based in Alnwick’s 1887 railway station. It’s one of the biggest second-hand bookshops in Britain and one of the most user-friendly. Cosy coal fires flicker in peaceful reading rooms, jazz can be heard, fresh coffee smells waft, and internet screens flicker. It’s one of a kind.

3 Dunstanburgh
Dunstanburgh Castle stands like a huge gaunt skeleton on top of a cliff of hard grey stone. Started in 1314 and reinforced by John of Gaunt between 1380 and 1384, it was one of the most formidable of the border castles. Its value now is as a hauntingly beautiful edifice in a seascape setting.

4 Seahouses
The next stop is well named. It’s a group of houses that has a strong connection with the sea. There are fish-and-chip shops, a coastguard station, an RNLI lifeboat station and a seafood restaurant that has a rear yard clogged with working lobster pots.
Before you get to the harbour, pop into the Sealife Centre. It might at first appear a seaside sideshow. But beyond the shop there’s a good deal to learn about the local fishing industry, lighthouses, kipper-smoking, barrel-making, and a lot more besides. You even get given food for the trout – toss the pellets in and the water simply boils with fish.
Down to the harbour – 19th-century concrete, so don’t expect the picturesque – and there are boats: some for fishing, others for ferrying the curious out to the Farne Islands.

5 Bamburgh
Finding Bamburgh is easy – you can see its castle for miles around. Standing on cliffs separating two fine beaches, Banburgh Castle is superbly atmospheric – but it’s also a bit of a fraud. Though its antecedents are impeccable – a Celtic stronghold further fortified by the Anglo-Saxons – most of what was left of the original castle was demolished by the first Lord Armstrong when he bought it in 1894. He then erected a mock-medieval structure in its place. Still, it’s worth a visit for its sheer scale, for its lovely views and for its interesting museum of engineering, shipbuilding and aviation. Bamburgh itself is a pretty village with tearooms, guesthouses and a museum, run by the RNLI, dedicated to the heroism of local Grace Darling and her father. They rescued nine people who had been wrecked on the Farne Islands when their ship, the paddle-steamer Forfarshire, foundered there in 1839.

6 Holy Island
Before you drive across the causeway to Holy Island, check the tides – you could be stuck there for up to six hours. You can also walk across – the Pilgrim’s Way is marked by a line of poles. If you get the timing wrong there are two ‘refuge boxes’: shin up the ladder, and you’ll have a few hours to rue your mistake.
The island itself is fascinating. Start at the Heritage Centre and its presentation on the Lindisfarne Gospels, then look around the ruins of the Priory and check out the huts made of upturned boats.
Lindisfarne Castle, built in the late 1540s, is a model of sympathetic restoration done by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the early 1900s for its owner, the founder of Country Life magazine. It’s hugely picturesque.
At the heart of the island’s fame is its place in Britain’s Christian history, recognised in 1084 when its name was changed from Lindisfarne to Holy Island. Look out in particular for the stories of St Aidan, founder of the Celtic Church in England, and of the healer and ‘miracle’ worker, St Cuthbert.

7 Berwick-upon-Tweed
Between 1174 and 1482, the border town of Berwick-upon-Tween changed hands no fewer than 14 times. Although finally ending up in England, its football team somehow got left behind, and still plays in the Scottish league.
Signs of the town’s turbulent history are everywhere. It was heavily fortified by Elizabeth I, under threat from Mary Queen of Scots, with formidable ramparts – unneeded, as it happens, since the two countries were united by her successor, James I.
Similarly, Berwick’s three bridges reflect its history, and it has splendid buildings from the period between 1750 and 1820, when its fortunes as a port were at their height.